Year: 2026 | Month: March | Volume: 13 | Issue: 3 | Pages: 66-72
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260308
A Comparative Study on Maternal Employment, Mother-child Relationship Quality, and Children's Anxiety Levels in Adolescents
Diya Sudin1, Nikitha Rajanesh1, Dr. Hunny Kalra2
1M.Sc. Psychology Student, Department of Psychology and Allied Sciences, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, (Karnataka) India
2Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Allied Sciences, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, (Karnataka) India
Corresponding Author: Dr. Hunny Kalra
ABSTRACT
Background: Mother-child relationships play a crucial role in shaping a child's emotional and psychological well-being. While various factors influencing these dynamics have been explored, limited research has examined the role of maternal employment status on relationship quality and children’s anxiety levels. Aim: This study compares the quality of mother-child relationships and anxiety levels among children based on their mothers' occupational status, categorizing mothers as either working professionals or homemakers.
Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted with 100 children aged 10 to 19 years, including 56 children of working mothers and 44 children of homemaker mothers. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) measured relationship quality, while the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (Spitzer et al., 2006) scale assessed anxiety levels. Descriptive statistics and an independent sample t-test were used to analyse group differences. Results: The analysis revealed no significant differences in mean scores between children of working mothers and homemakers. Specifically, no significant differences were found in overall relationship quality (p = 0.72), parent trust (p = 0.36), parent communication (p = 0.18), parent alienation (p = 0.79), or anxiety levels (p = 0.47).
Conclusion: Findings suggests that maternal employment doesn't negatively affect mother-child relationships or children's anxiety. These results could help alleviate guilt experienced by working mothers. Policymakers should encourage female workforce participation to enhance household income without concerns about harming family dynamics. Organizations should implement supportive policies for working mothers.
Keywords: Maternal employment, Mother-child relationship, Child anxiety, Working mothers, Family dynamics
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